Matthew Stafford on Staying in LA, Aaron Donald’s Insane Workouts and Girl Dad Advice | Ep 128

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I'm going over to his house in the mornings and I'm like, he's teaching me the offense on his whiteboard in his house going crazy. I'm like trying to write all this shit down.
I'm like, oh my God, I'm never going to remember any of this. I just got off a bender in Mexico.
Fuck this. It was my vacation.
I remember he's got my film up on his phone. He's like, do you's like do you remember this play i'm like yeah like i'm trying to have a margarita and some chips bro welcome back to new heights ladies and gentlemen boys and girls of all ages yeah 92 percenters a wondry show produced by wave sports and entertainment new heights is brought to you by Nike.
Yeah. 92%ers.
A Wondery show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment. New Heights is brought to you by Nike.
Yeah. One of my all-time favorites.
Shout out to Nike. When the world says you can't win, Nike says so win.
Yeah. We're your hosts.
I'm Travis Kelsey. This is Jason Kelsey, my big brother out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Northeast Ohio till I die, baby, Eastside.

Subscribe on YouTube, Wondery Plus,

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at New Heights Show with one S.

Jason, tell the people what we got coming up.

We've got an incredible episode coming up for you guys.

First, we're going to tell you how you can win

an official New Heights Golden Cup

that I was supposed to bring to this episode

that I did not.

Sorry, it's not here right now,

but the baby is back.

We're going to go ahead fan contests starting today. We're going to reveal our first fan contest of the offseason where you'll have an opportunity to win a New Heights Gold Cup.
That's some exciting shit. We're also going to be answering some questions, and we have an incredible conversation coming up with a friend of ours and a current still L.A.
Ram, Mr. Matthew Stafford.
Texas Gunslinger. But first, we're going to a little bit to that new news.
New news. All right.
New news is brought to you by Audible. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, baby. Audible.
I want to hear what you're talking about. Man.
That should be their slogan from here on out. Did you just come up with Audible's new slogan? Like catchphrase? If they want to use it, they're going to have to pay me a lot of money.
If you want to hear what they're talking about. If you want to hear what I'm talking about.
That's the way every Audible book should just start. Like, James Clear, Atomic Habits.
If you want to hear what they're talking about. March Madness Bracket Challenge.
92%ers, we're pumped. Yeah.
Jacked up. I mean, who's not? It's March Madness.
Our first fan contest of the year and a gold cup. Is on the line.
Is on the line. That's right.
If you remember, we had a bracket challenge last year that decided the best team name. The winner was the Vikings.
Yep. That's still up to bait.
I don't know. Well, listen, it's not a debate.
It's the one that won. It's a debate whether that was accurate.
Well, it won. And this year we're going full March Madness.
That is right. We are the first ever New Heights Tournament Challenge with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Wait, time out. How does Reese's factor into this? This is- Oh, okay.
I didn't know if we were giving them the cup with Reese's inside of it as the charge. Good idea.
Great idea. That's a great idea.
It's like two trophies. Great idea.
Are they lava big cups or just regular cups? Whatever they send us. Or Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs.
What if it's just a conglomerate of Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs, Reese's regular peanut butter cups, Reese's big lava cups, Reese's pieces? I actually just got a protein from Cellulor that's Reese's flavored. I was out when you said conglomerate.
We will post links to where you can make your picks and enter this bracket challenge. You'll play against us, me and Jason.
Yeah. And everybody else that submits a bracket, but yes, we'll be in it too.
Yeah. Jason doesn't even know what a basketball is made of.
It's made of leather. Oh.
And air. That's what he thought.
All the college balls are made of some sort of composite now, Jason. Yeah, it's probably not actually.
You're a fucking idiot. I don't, yeah, I have not watched one ounce of college basketball this year.
Not even a lick? Which is why I feel extremely confident. In a lot of ways.
Because I'll tell you what I'm going to do. This is what I'm going to do.
I'm going to go to Audible, and I'm going to look up the books on how to master March Madness. And I'm going to read up on them.

And you're going to be doing- Well, you don't read on Audible.

Well, I'm going to listen up on them.

Okay.

And then I'm going to come in with a wealth of knowledge on how to pick March Madness

teams.

And I'm going to kick your ass.

No way, Jose.

I'm going to Audible, James Wooden's-

Can you name one team in the top 25

Duke lucky guess it was

can you name one player in

NCAA basketball holy fuck one

player Jason Jesus Christ I don't

think I don't think Jesus is in the NCAA no he's everywhere Travis I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. I don't I don't think I can.
I don't think Jesus is in the NCAA. No.
He's everywhere, Travis. So they say.
So they say. Yeah, I don't think I can.
He doesn't even know who we gave NIL money to at the University of Cincinnati. I don't.
Like a lie, I don't know one name. Jizzle James.
Shout out to Jizzle James. Jizzle James.
Yeah, he's still there. He's still there? Yeah, he's Rocky.
He's our only home. We got to make a run in the Big 12 tourney from what I think.
Rules are simple. Sign up using the link in the episode's description.
Entry with the highest score wins. We will do our best to limit it to one entry per person.
All right so please don't enter multiple times even though that is going to get you the best chance to win. Yeah.
There will be a bracket for both men's. We're on the honor curve, people.
There will be a bracket for both the men's and women's tournaments so we'll be handing out two Golden Cups. We're handing out two Golden Cups.
Questions, have either of you watched any college basketball games this year? We answered that. Do you guys usually fill out brackets ever? I will say this.
I used to, mom used to get Cavs tickets if she won the bracket at work. So you'd fill it out for it? And I used to fill it out for it and that was how I got free Cavs tickets.
That's not how you, you got free Cavs tickets from Fairfax Elementary School. Go ahead.
Tell them.

Go ahead. Tell them what happened.

You're still thinking about it. 30 years

later, Jason. I'm just regurgitating a fact.

I'm not thinking about it. You brought up

a false fact. I won my fight.

You didn't. You got suspended and I

got Cavs tickets. What do you mean you won?

I won my fight. What are you talking about?

I did not lose my fight. I think

that's why you didn't get the Cavs tickets. No, I didn't't get calf tickets because I got suspended for beating the shit out of a kid.
Okay. So why did I get calf tickets? Because you smoothed the principal.
What? Do you think that's how I got calf tickets? Yes. The principal loved you.
Mrs. McBee did not like me.
I'm pretty sure Mrs. McBee despised our entire household.
No, I think she liked... I'm not really sure.
That's it for new news brought to you by Audible. Can you hear what I'm talking about? Jason.
Yep, I'll tell you that. You want to do the honors? All righty, our guest today is from Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas.
He was the number one pick in the 2009 draft, a two-time Pro Bowl Super Bowl champion, and still the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams. Please welcome Mr.
Matthew Stafford. Thank you very much.
Thank you for having me. That's a hell of an intro.
I need you in-game. I need you in-game for me.
I'll come do that anytime. How you doing, brother? I'm on the mic at Ram's house, baby.
I'm good, man. I don't see you doing pretty good.
You finally got the elephant out of the room of the offseason, I guess, right? Yes. That was a little nerve-wracking there for a little bit, just trying to figure out what was going to go down, but happy to be back wearing, you know, Rams colors, playing the sofa, doing the thing.
Hell yeah. Hell yeah, man.
We knew you had like a ridiculous amount of success in Detroit, but it kind of feels like L.A. is like where you really, I don't know.
It feels like it's where you kind of made it home, at least on the football field, man. Yeah, for sure.
I've been lucky to be playing here with Coach McVay and all my teammates and all those guys for a know a few years now and uh we love it here my family loves it here i love playing here um the brand of football fits my style oh yeah i love uh i love going to work and playing in front of the fans it's it's a blast it has been a really cool thing obviously coming from detroit um very different place than los angeles uh love both of them yeah but uh this has been a cool change up and and uh's settled in great and we love it here. Love it, man.
You said your brand of football, but do you have a brand? Could you fit in any offense? We were just talking about running midline back in the day. I remember the old coaching points, you know? So how drastically different was it coming to LA and being with Sean and this offense versus what you were doing in Detroit? And did you multiple different offenses in Detroit yeah I had a few I felt like you were always airing it out but yeah we uh yeah I definitely um I've experienced a lot you know this is this past season was 16 this will be 17 coming up so I've had a few offensive coordinators I've done like the Peyton Manning um you know no huddle at the line of scrimmage thing we did that with Jim Bob he was in Detroit for a while.
Scott Linehan was my first coordinator when I first came to the league in 2009 for like five years. I mean, that seems so far back.
Like defense, offense, all of it was so different at that point. But, yeah, I've had a few.
I feel like any player, any competitive player should be like, yeah, put me in any system and I'll thrive. I don't care.
You call the plays and I'll haul them. But it has been fun with Sean.
You know, the way he challenges all of us, not only like physically on the field, but mentally in the approach to the game and all the things that he asked me to do with the line of scrimmage or pre-snap, whatever it is. It's a lot, but I think it makes us successful.
And it's fun, you know, getting that challenge from your coach. Sure.
You know, being like, hey, I think you can handle all this. And he gives me all that, and it ends up being successful.
That's a lot of fun. Yeah, absolutely.
It's fun to watch. Yeah, I appreciate it.
We've talked about this before, but that McVay offense, Shanahan offense, the run play action is so dynamic on first, second down. But what was obviously great the moment you got there, winning the Super Bowl, was taking this guy who could do drop back passing at a high level and function in that type of setting combined with that.
It felt like just like the perfect marriage. Did the offense change around you when you got there as well, almost just as much as you had to learn the new stuff? Yeah, 100%.
That's a very good way of kind of describing what transpired and what happened. for sure I got there and I remember we were, Sean and I were maybe, you know, a couple weeks

into me being out in LA and he's like, hey, you, me, Kelly, and Veronica, let's go drink some wine up in Santa Barbara area. I'm like, alright, cool.
We're going on a little wine trip. Go for a day.
Right away, different than Detroit. Correct.
One of a badass beer Kid Rock or something like that at one point. It's tons of fun to happen in Detroit.
So we're cruising up there. We're like 30 minutes into our ride up there and my guy pulls out a piece of paper and he's like, alright, so here's the drop back stuff.
Okay, I got it. I haven't even had any red wine yet and we're just, we're already into this.
I love this shit. But he's like, here's this package I'm thinking about.
We'll go no huddle, jump the ball. Sure enough, that's what we did a bunch, especially in 2021 and launched it all over the field and had a bunch of success.
When I got here, he was like, man, drop back pass has been something that we've always wanted to try and elevate just as that core system. I was like, well, that's kind of all I did in Detroit.
We didn't really run the ball or play action it very often. It was just like, I'm in the gun, and here we go.
45, 50 attempts. Yeah, so it was like, oh, that's the easy part for me.
I've done this my whole career. So it was a good marriage, and it's worked out well.
Let's talk about the decision to decision to stay in LA. Okay.
There are a lot of rumors out there, you know, getting wooed from New York, Raiders, LA, contract stuff. Yeah.
What was ultimately the deciding factor to come back and resign with LA? Yeah. I mean, I think it was kind of a joint process, right? Like it wasn't just, I wasn't a free agent, you know, I still had two years left on my deal and, and, um, you know, we kind of worked something out last year, kind of the, you know, at the 11th hour to kind of figure it out right before training camp with the understanding that, okay, we're going to come back and readdress this if I want to play again the next year.
Sure. You know, had a nice season and wanted, you know, felt healthy, wanted to keep going.
And, you know, so it was like, all right, let's figure out how to get this done. Obviously, there was some trade rumors and some things like that that, you know, transpired that was, you know, a little bit tough on your family just because you don't really know what's going to be next.
I remember when I was getting traded from Detroit to L.A. really a couple weeks before that, I had made it known that I wanted to be traded from Detroit.
And I can't tell you how much time I spent on Zillow at that point looking at houses in Indy and there and all these places back then. So you're just like, and I'm sitting there going, man, where be where my kids go to school all this kind of stuff and you know a little bit of a similar situation just because um you know what was out there and what was going on but uh I think in the end I know that they wanted me back I wanted to be back we just had to kind of figure that out and get to that point we did and I'm uh I'm sure so happy that you know I'm gonna be here for at least another year and hopefully some after that love it hell yeah I remember uh coming out of the draft um I was uh I had a what do you call it where they fly you in top 30 visit I had a top 30 visit to Washington yeah and uh at the time had no idea what would eventually transpire to be like four out of the four head coaches just sitting in like the player like positions yeah at the time and mcveigh was one of them and he was the tight end coach so i spent most of my time talking talking to mcveigh about ball and i just remember him talking so fucking fast it hasn't changed and he's just rambling he's just ripping them and ripping them i'm just like dude i don't know how you got me jacked up, this jacked up about playing football right now, but you're the only one to do it.
It was like, it was him and like, ironically, Dan Campbell were the two that I was like, man, these dudes love this shit. And like during installs throughout the building, like, is he just nonstop a hundred miles per hour and just all about ball? Yes.
All day, guy loves it um I mean shoot like I said we're going on a wine trip and the guy's ripping off plays he just can't stop and and and loves it but it is it is cool to watch him do his thing he's so like you said he's great one-on-one right he's great teaching me the offense I remember when I first um you know got traded here I was actually a long story but I was in Mexico, randomly ran into him, whatever, it happened. I fly back and I'm going over to his house in the mornings and I'm like, he's teaching me the offense on his whiteboard in his house going crazy.
I'm like trying to write all this shit down. I'm like, oh my God, I'm never going to remember any of this.
I just got off a bender in Mexico. The oldockey baby yeah exactly but yeah he's like that one on one he's all day every day loves football but then he gets up in front of the room and he can relate to everybody he commands the room he's got great energy sets the tone for the week every single week and guys you know thrive on it so it's it's a lot of fun going to work you know in that building especially when we're winning and he's in a good mood and rocking and rolling.
It's a lot of fun. Yeah.
Fuck yeah, man. I don't even know if I want to put, but the only time I've literally met Sean, we were Kyle and I were in Maui on vacation and him and Veronica walk through and he makes a point to come over and same thing.
Yes. Immediately talking football.
Yes. And like, hey, we like i could just see a look at veronica's face like she is this happens all day all the time every day for her like she's like great we're on vacation in maui and this fucking idiot still wants to talk about football 100 she probably saw me walk into the pool in mexico and was like fuck this it was my vacation he's got i remember's got my film up on his phone.
He's like, do you remember this time? I'm like, yeah. I'm trying to have a margarita and some chips, bro.
Dude, so good. He's just got to know, man.
He's just got to know. He is what he is.
And to be honest, I just enjoy talking ball with him. He ropes you in, man.
He ropes you in. He just wants to get better, man.
I fucking love that. No doubt.
Well, you guys got a lot of talent around you over there. I'm sure that had a lot to do with you wanting to come back.
It feels like a great situation over there. Obviously, the Cooper Cup decision of whether he's going to be back, things like that.
One of the best receivers in the league still. Obviously dealt with some stuff last year, but is it like, and we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to, but have you talked to him? Well, yeah, I mean, like I was, you know, I ran into him right kind of when they told him the news that they're, you know, talking about trading him.
And, you know, obviously that one is tough. You're around this game long enough.
Those kind of things happen, you know, and it's tough, especially for a guy that's meant so much to me in my career and how he helped me kind of, you know, get in with the Rams and, you know, just in that locker room and what it's all about to be a part of that team. He was such a huge part of that for me.
So it's tough. And I've spent probably more time with him as a teammate than really any other teammate, you know, in my career.
And that just kind of happened organically. You know, I would go in there early and, you know, sure enough, Cooper would be in there or he'd walk in, you know, as I'm walking in and we start watching tape together and then it just turned into a thing that we just did every day.
And so I've spent a ton of time with him. He's meant a ton to me as a player, but even more probably as a person.
You talk to guys, including Sean, guys around that team that have been with him for extended periods of time. And he's a fantastic player.
He means a ton to our team. But just as a human being, as a person, he's as good as it gets.
So whether he's with us, which I love Cooper and would love opportunity to continue to play with him. Or if he's somewhere else, I mean, whoever gets him, it's going to be, you know, he's a fantastic person for the locker room, for the team.
And shoot, you know, when he's healthy, he's still balling. Hell yeah.
Man, I still remember that goddamn interview where he just started ripping off defensive coverages and stuff. Dude, that shit was so – but it was like, I mean, that dude's –

the mind is going, man.

Yeah, and he's dialed in, dude.

I mean, he's like the nicest guy in the world, right?

Yeah.

And so the story behind that is he's like doing this interview postgame,

which he doesn't love being in front of the camera anyways,

and he's doing an interview, and the reporter asks him a question,

and he answers it.

She asks him another question, and he answers it. It's like a third

question and he's like, okay, what is going on here?

And he's like, I'm trying to get off the field, get in the locker room

and go. She asks him one more question

and so he's like, you know what, I'm just going to go top rope

way over your head so that you're just going to go

okay, thanks Cooper.

That's brilliant.

He answered with just like the, I mean, we saw

the zone pressure. I knew it was, the mic was working away

because we got three out and Matthew changed protection. I'm like, you just went rogue football on this reporter.
And she was just like, and that's Cooper Cupps. He was like, thank God I can go take a shower and get out of here.
But it was a pretty veteran move by Coop. You were saying he watched his film with you guys.
I mean, is he that in tune with protection calls and stuff like that? Or he was just trying to get out of that interview? He's pretty dialed in. He asked me really good questions.
Nice. Just from a quarterback perspective, I mean, he knows as much or more than any other team that I've ever had.
This guy will be watching practice or something, and he's like, hey, run that play back. And I'm like, and it's some run play.
And he's like, we really could, you know, knock it back, tag it back one here with these angles and single high. And I could just block the mic instead of having to go out to the nickel in this two-by-two set.
And I'm like, yeah. I mean, if you want it to change, go ahead.
He's grinding on every, like, run play, every single thing he's meticulous about. And, shoot, it's, you know, part of what makes him great i gotta love it you gotta tell me the difference though of a guy like him and a guy like demarcus robinson oh yeah baby one of my favorite teammates of all time he's so great d rob is the man i love d rob he's been great for our team i think he's got some crazy streak where he's been on like he's played for nine years and he's made the playoffs every single year.
Dude, it's ridiculous. So he's just like, he's the good luck charm.
You know, you just got to bring him back. But he's a, no, he's a great player.
You know, okay to not know to, you know, tag it back one in a single high. He's okay with not knowing that.
And it's good, baby. We're good.
Instinct-wise, he's got great instincts.

You can just tell him out there and be like, hey, we're going to

run wide zone at you, and he'd probably end up on

the right guy. He just gets it.

So much fun to play with.

Even Puka, man.

What a character.

You guys got so much talent out there. Puka's a monster, man.

For a young guy to come in and

done what he's been able to do the last couple

years is pretty outstanding. Obviously, he had a great guy to learn from with Coop as far as, you know, kind of where to be in that offense.
Yeah. And then, you know, once the ball's in his hand, that's, you know, some of the best stuff he does is just running physical and playing physical.
It's pretty cool to see. Heck yeah.
Do you think the receivers in that offense need to be a little bit more dialed in with all the motions and like how responsible they are

in the run game. Yeah, you won't play if you're

not. You know what I mean? And that's kind of the way it is.

And you know, a lot of

two-by-two sets were the F and the X.

We're cooping old D-Robber out there together.

So there was a hootie who?

Yes.

There were two peas in a pod

out there with the two-by-two sets.

So rely on your teammates. I miss those combos with D-Rob, man.
Not illegal to communicate out there. Look when they sign Brandon Brooks.
The thing is, you get me and D-Rob on the same side. We're over there like, oh, God.
We'll both just get somebody. Yeah.
I think when they sign Brandon Brooks, they're like, part of your job is telling Lane Johnson, you know, what the call make sure we're bouncing this call out. We're echoing the call.
We've got to echo the call. 100%.
That's part of it, man. He's going to block TJ one-on-one.
You're going to let him know what the call is. That's the beauty of the game, though, right? For sure.
There's give and take from everybody, and no doubt it happens. It's fun to watch.
Let's talk about the Super Bowl season. Talks about a little bit.
You went there in the first year. What, I mean, when you signed in LA, did you anticipate that happening that quickly? I mean, probably not, right? I mean, any guy that just says, yeah, I'll just show up there and we'll win the Super Bowl.
Obviously. No, it was, you know, I was excited about the opportunity.
I didn't think it was going to happen there just because I didn't I think I was going there just because of you know the

you know contract stuff they had just done with Jared and all that so um you know but I ended up

there and uh yeah I mean I knew we had a talented team but I just knew that I felt a ton of pressure

because I think they returned 10 guys on offense except for me yeah and maybe all 11 guys on

defense and I'm like I'm not gonna be the asshole that doesn't know what's going on you know what

I'm going to be the asshole that doesn't know what's going on. You know what I mean? So it was like a lot of pressure, especially at my position.
I'm supposed to know everybody's job in and out. So spent a lot of time and a lot of hours just kind of making sure that when I stepped into huddle day one, they weren't like this guy.
You know what I mean? So it was like, all right, not only physically could I do what I could do, but I want to make sure that mentally they were like okay this guy's on it and so spent a bunch of time and I knew we were talented um I didn't know how talented but you guys have been on those teams it's like you know the week one starters we had compared to you know what we were doing at the end it's it's totally different and so being able to navigate that whole thing was uh was incredible it was an incredible year you know many talented guys, you know, especially late after we signed Odell, we signed Vaughn. I mean, it was like going out to practice.
It was a super team, man. I mean, this was just unbelievable practices we had against each other.
Swag champs, man. You get two swag champs like that.
It was wild. It was wild.
Especially in L.A., man. Yeah.
They were fun teammates to have, and I still talk to those guys. But it was a special moment.
I mean, just a lot of years in Detroit, not knowing if that was ever going to be an opportunity to get them playing those games and going through the playoffs and winning those games to get to that point was special. And then getting to do it at our own home stadium was crazy.
And a lot of people focus on your time in L.A. just because I think the success has been there as a team.
You balled the fuck out in Detroit. Oh, every year.
Every year. Yeah, every year.
Calvin Johnson. I mean, what the fuck was it like throwing to Calvin Johnson, dude? He was a monster.
Dude, Megatron, man. Yeah, just a creative player.
He didn't say much, you know, and I wish I was. I wish I would have got, obviously, more time with him.
I mean, anytime you got a great player like that, you're like, man, I wish I had more time to play with that guy. But I just think about like plug and play him in the system we're in right now and I'm like, oh my god.
Would have been scary. That's a guy you can plug into any system.
I mean, the guy was playing at Georgia Tech. He was literally playing.
Wow, yeah, put him out there. Yeah, he can figure it out.
But he is an incredible player. I've been lucky to play with a bunch bunch of talented receivers all kind of different styles and body types and all that kind of stuff but he is uh i mean it was crazy yeah throwing balls to him i was like it feels like you're throwing to a d end i mean like that's what he looked like out there it was crazy enormous i mean you have two so cooper in what year was that 20 21 for coop 21 yeah and then calvin and 12? 12 mean two of the top five receiving yeah seasons of anybody in the history of the game yeah and they have you as a person throwing what does that mean like do you remind them that you're the person i just send a yearly text you're welcome no but uh no it's uh no it's cool it is uh it's something that you know i i feel feel lucky to be a part of.
You know what I mean? I'm sure. It was incredible watching both those guys do it in completely different ways.
Cooper, majority from the slot, just unbelievable finding his way through, catch and run guy, and then Calvin just lined him up on the outside and let him go to work on people. It was cool to be a part of both.
I definitely am proud of it and that we got that done. It's a special thing, I guess.
I guess I can get that number one guy the ball a lot if he's getting open. Schwartzy used to tell me that you guys would run a goal line play where Calvin would be singled up, forward to the other side.
side. We used to rather call it diamond.
Yeah. Where it's like quarterback draw if it's a light box.
Calvin, if he's got the one-on-one, we're taking it. And if you've got numbers there, you've got the screen.
Yeah. And he's like, you could not be right.
Yeah. Like, it was like a cheat code.
It was. And then, like, we would get to the point where I would – it was hard down there in the goal line to see leverage.
Sure. You know, for me, like, was the guy playing inside you or outside you or whatever? So I got to a point where, like, Calvin and I would just have, he would just signal to me whether he wanted the fade or the glance kind of.
Yeah. And he would just go open hand, closed hand on the inside hand.
He just closed hand. I'm on the fade.
Sneaky son of a bitch. Open hand.
Biggest dude on the field. Yeah.
Sneaky though. Just one hand open.
I'm like, ooh, here comes this one right here. So, but yeah, I mean, it was was crazy and then we went and played the Saints and they ended up vicing him you know down like and then the next year on their free we're playing at Arizona and like the first third down of the game he's in the slot and we're running like 525 f post swing like you know and uh and uh he's he's viced on third down third down third down from like our like minus 20 you know like opening possession we're not letting them ruin the game like jeez guys relax i mean listen that's what we treated aaron donna we viced him all game yeah i get it i can completely relate and i and i threw it to like pedigree and we didn't get the first down or something and i come back and I'm like how was it he's like I still got open and I'm like fuck of course he could get open you know what I mean we're gonna cancel him out since there's two guys vicing him still won I'm like god he was crazy March Madness is coming up that's right I don't know if you know it but March is here it's gonna be wild everyone always locks in on the men's tournament but But the women's bracket is shaping up.
That's right. I don't know if you know it, but March is here.
It's going to be wild. Everyone always locks in on the men's tournament, but the women's bracket is shaping up to be unreal.
Yeah. Have you seen Juju Watkins? Come on now.
What she's doing over at USC? Absolutely electric. Electric.
We got to meet her out in France last year, actually. If you're not already on the Juju team, now's your chance to say you were there early.
That's right. The level of talent she brings to the women's game is generational.
I'm telling you, do not sleep on the women's tournament. Yeah, she can literally do it all, man.
This is the year, and make sure you keep your eye on Juju Watkins. Her mindset is next level, like the way she attacks everything she does.
She's got that classic Nike energy. When people say you can't, she's like, watch me and just does it.
You got that right. And shout out to our partner Nike, who she also partners with.
They came out with that insane commercial around the Super Bowl that we showed you guys. And now they're out inspiring the next generation of Hoopers.
Stay tuned for what they've got going on for March Madness. I cannot wait.
Now, a moment brought to you by American Express.

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the crisp kick of freshman to fruity strawberry each piece is refreshing with possibility refresh every day with mentos gum i was going to take it back man how does a texas gunslinger like yourself end up in georgia yeah well both my parents went to Florida State, so I wasn't like a Texas kid growing up.

I wasn't like Longhorns or Aggies or any of that kind of stuff.

But your whole life you grew up in Texas.

I did, but I loved Florida State.

I wanted to go to Florida State.

I ended up getting an offer from them,

but the offensive coordinator at Florida State for a long time was Mark Richt.

He then became the head coach at Georgia, so I started watching Georgia.

And my sister went there the year before me, And really the couple years before I went to Georgia, they were like second and fifth in the country. They were a really good program.
And I frankly wanted to be doing what I'm doing right now, playing pro football as fast as I could. I went there, took a visit.
It was like a pro style offense. Felt like I had a chance to early.
And I don't know. I wasn't like a huge I wasn't like in love with the recruiting process and it's so different back then than it is now anyways.
So I just was like let me get into where I fit in and keep it moving and I loved my time there. It was great.
Got to play with Noshan, a bunch of talented players. AJ Green, some Green, some of those guys.
So I was never in love with University of Texas football, so I know all my buddies wanted me to go there. I was about to say, even the day and age you're coming out.
Our intern right here, Brandon, is the biggest Texas Longhorn fan you'll ever see. I'm sorry.
Well, you know what I didn't know? Because I went to Texas. I sat down with Greg Davis, who was the offensive coordinator.
First mistake. Yeah.
He pulls up tape of the game the year before. It's Vince Young versus Oklahoma State.
That's what I'm saying. You're in, like, the heart of, like, prime Texas football.
But it was like, hey, this is four-verse concept here. They had some crazy comeback at the end of the game.
And the second half, Vince went crazy. And he was like, we were running four-verse.
And he's like, this is beater box. And then we check it down.
We say, beater box back. That's like seam outside go to the back, right? Sounds like a Texas fucking offer.
He goes, well, when Vince is quarterback, we just say beater box and run. And I'm like, well, I ain't fucking running, bro.
Show me some major Applewhite tape. That's what I need.
You know, like, find me here. And he just showed me Vince stuff.
And I'm like, I'm not going to hurdle the middle linebacker and do this shit. So can you just find me here? And it just didn't fit.
It didn't fit, yeah. But, yeah, that's amazing.
That was my story in Texas. I was like, I don't know.
I don't know what to tell you. That's not my skill set.
That's so good, man. It was fun, though.
So you go from Georgia. You drafted in the first round, first pick.
Yeah. At what point did you know you were going number one? It was like a couple nights before maybe, maybe a night or two before.
Yeah. Back when they kind of did that, you know, and like figure out contracts and all that kind of stuff.
So, yeah, I was in New York already, so it was, you know, doing the whole draft thing. You did the whole rigmarole, yeah.
Yeah, and they kind of called my agent and told them, you know, we're going to do it. And I was like, all right, sweet.
This is kind of nice.

Nice walking into the green room, not having any stress at all, knowing this will be a short sit.

And it was, you know, just kind of sat down, popped back up and kept it moving.

It was a whirlwind.

It was crazy.

I think back on that.

I'm like, man, what I didn't know, right?

Like so much.

But it was a blast. Did you immediately jump on a jet to detroit or did you yeah the next morning um so i i like went out that's not immediate did you have a little fun in the city i had some good times with them but i had a bunch of college buddies there and and so my family was there too so we went and had a good time kicked it i had to pick my number the next morning the team president calls me early in the morning oh yeah nice and uh he's like what number do you want i'm like uh seven you know that's what it was in college he's like well dutch clark 1932 detroit lion yeah his number retired and i was like oh shit and they were like we can call his family and see if you would unretire before i'm like no no no all good yeah rifling through the numbers like my dad's in the room a buddy of mine's in the room and i'm like hey guys what number should i be and i'm like rifling through these like ah you don't want that one or you don't want that one i was like all right i'll just go with nine is nine available they're like yeah nine works i'm like cool and in my head i'm like great i don't have to change my signature much and like the seven just goes to a nine like I'm good right this is easy so uh yeah after that proceeded to uh you know hop on a jet and fly to uh fly to Detroit so love it before the two days before when they called you were there any other teams that you thought oh I might end up there like or yeah how's the process I guess before yeah it was um I took a couple of those 30 visits you were talking about I took took one to Detroit.
I took one to the Jets. And then I took one to San Fran.
And so the Jets, when I left there, they were like, we're moving up to five to pick somebody if you're not there. And they ended up taking Sanchez at five.
They moved up to five to take him. And then the 49ers was a different deal.
They had the 10th pick. They ended up taking Crabtree.
But at the combine, there had been some stuff going on in an interview, right? I sat down with Peter King afterwards and he was like, hey, what's the craziest thing that happened at the combine in the meetings, right? Sure. And that was kind of back when they would ask you stuff you can't say now or ask ask now sure okay and so i'm like well sam franz deal it was uh singletary was the head coach yeah and it was um it was like a shrink like a oh yeah you know like a psychologist psychologist lady she's talking to me about all these different things and it's like uh tell me about your parents i'm like my parents got divorced you know when i was in high school and okay do you want to talk about i'm like not really like they're cool like it's okay yeah so peter king's like what's the strangest thing i'm like well my 12 minutes with the niners at that point was you know it was like uh i wanted to know how much of the prorated hour i owed him after my 12 minutes and i said that and he wrote that and i was like and so mike got all pissed off and was like he he's not ready to be a quarterback.
And he got mad. So I had to fly out there and like, just kind of like shake hands and be like, listen, man, I didn't mean anything by it.
Yeah. Supposed to be a joke.
But yeah, that was my complete waste of my time. I fly out to San Fran.
I fly out to San Fran. I'm on the East Coast.
I'm in Atlanta at the time. I fly out to San Fran.
I go there. I meet with Mike.
This is awesome. He's getting a Bowflex put in his office.
As I'm walking in, I'm like, hell yeah. He's getting the chuggy.
He got scanned by the commercial. I was just like.
Damn it. Been there before.
That shit. I'm like, this is awesome.
But it was honestly a great meeting with him, the whole deal. And so, you know, I'm meeting with him.

They're like, hey.

That's so good.

They're not going to.

We're like, you're not going to be there at 10.

We're not going to get a chance to take you.

Had a slim flask, milkshake next to him.

Had a do a topo.

Oh, gosh.

Yeah.

It was short-lived.

The league has changed quite a bit. Yes, it has.
Yes, it has. Oh, man.
Good old Mike. Yeah.
All right. Well, damn, that was good.
What do you think the biggest change in the league has been? Besides both flexes and coaches? Exactly. Golly.
I mean, it has changed a ton, right? Like like I feel like the X's and O's parts of it is so cyclical and like you know it was all when I first got in the league it was all Tampa 2 what were y'all's first years I was 11 13 okay yeah so it was like all Tampa 2 it was Chicago Bears Chicago Bears Tampa 2 they're bringing the Mike and the Nickel playing three week way or they're bringing the free safety and Urlacher's cutting and picking four-week and taking him to the house. It's like the pressures were all these like zone dogs.
100%. That's all it was, right? And then it went to like, okay, Seattle, we're playing three deep, four under.
We got the like weak hook player carrying three vertical, all that stuff. And then it's, you know, a lot of what you guys are doing I think is great, you know, and whatever.
So I think scheme-wise it's, you know, it's really been like cyclical. I think the way they can hit players now has changed so much.
I mean, I used to get just absolutely dumped by dudes. You've got some iconic just like face masks going in all sorts of different directions.
Yeah, there's been some tough, some lean moments there. Just some good memes nowadays.
It's not the same. No, yeah, it's not the same.
I remember at one offseason, I was in the NFC North for forever, and Julius Peppers, who was with Chicago at the time. We just talked to you and sounded too many.
Jared Allen. Julius Peppers.
North Carolina. Are you out of like an action movie? What the fuck are you doing this football field But Pep Pep and Jared Allen Were both free agents Yeah In Minnesota And in Chicago And I'm like Good get the fuck out of here I've never seen you guys And they just Fucking switched Damn it You know like Julius is in You know Green Bay And you know Jared's in Chicago And I'm like God I can't get rid of these guys.
But, no, it was different times back then.

I mean, really all aspects of the game, I feel like.

But, I mean, none of the guys were doing this, so this is a different part of it as well, which is kind of cool.

Yeah.

I'm not, like, ultra dialed into the podcast thing.

My wife does the morning after.

Yeah, KB.

She does a couple podcasts, and she rocks it.

I'm not super dialed in. Cooper and I did a little nine and dime.
Okay. We're, like, for the team kind time after.
Yeah, KB. She does a couple podcasts and she rocks it.
I'm not super dialed in.

Cooper and I did a little nine and dime. Okay.
For the team kind of thing. Yeah.
Which was a lot of fun. But yeah, I mean, just having the ability and the platform to kind of get out there and talk a little bit is cool.
I know it's fun for everybody to get to know you guys too. So that's cool.
Yeah, we have fun doing it. Hell yeah.
Especially when we get guys like this, man. Yeah, I appreciate you.
We got to talk about something that Tom Brady said though. He's saying that college isn't developing these quarterbacks like they used to.
Do you kind of see that as well? Do you see some of these young guys that come in that just are, it doesn't seem like they're as ingrained in the, like maybe the X's and O's or their mechanics as much? Well, yeah, and I think maybe kind of what he was thinking about too

when he was talking about that is just, you know,

the ability to move and do all that.

You don't get time in a system, right?

Like think about if you just changed offensive coordinators every single year,

you'd be like, man, I don't know.

I know a lot, but I don't know if I like mastered anything.

Got everything out of that.

You know what I mean?

And got everything out of that.

And so, I mean, because for me it's like hard to argue.

I mean, what Jaden Dana has done this year as a rookie, I'm like, pretty solid player, you know? And I think all those guys that are coming out, like the rookies actually impress me, you know, just the way that they can go out there and operate and play at a high level at a young age. But I do know what he means by that.
Like, you know, you're just kind of bouncing around, bouncing through college. It's a different feel like we're, you know, I a school you guys went to a school and you're like feel good about that school try to learn everything there is to learn about that system and then and go from there you know I think it's an individual case like each player but I am impressed by a lot of the guys that come out and I'm like I'm a fan of I want those guys to have success like I don't want the guys to come into the league and I'm not the old guy that's like no you can't take you know job.
You know, like I want you to fail. I'm like, man, I want the game to continue to be great, and I want those young guys to play well.
So I was impressed by them. Awesome.
Awesome. I think also it goes back to what you were saying.
It's just a different game. 100%.
When you come into the league nowadays, I just feel like – and this might be me being older thinking about this, but it feels like it's a younger game. Oh, yeah.
It doesn't like i don't see the ray lewises at linebacker where it's like intimidation yeah you gotta be where you're you're under center and you just you're staring at ray lewis and you're like break the huddle okay yeah here we go i know you're coming yeah the game has changed yeah they got to be able to cover and do more in the passing game and don't worry lewis would probably still be good in today's I don in today's NFL. Yeah, no doubt.
You know, Bobby Wagner. Yeah.
You know, I mean, I think but yeah, it's, as the game changes so do the positions. Yeah, there's not a million dudes doing what I do, like sitting in the pocket and throwing anymore.
You know, a lot of guys are moving around and making plays and I'm jealous. You know, I'm watching tape and they're like I know they just see man coverage and they're like, I'm just gonna run.
I'm just gonna run. And I'm'm like that's an awful idea if I try to do that everybody's back it's gonna be second 11 you know it's not good for us if I do that so guys get open do you ever watch the combine any of the college games I mean I'll flip the combine on a little bit here and there I watch some of the college games I'm not like a huge college football guy um when it gets like to the playoffs and the really good games sure I'll flick it on, but I'm not following a guy throughout the year.
Now, I do watch those guys when they get into the league, like C.J. Stroud.
I thought he had an unbelievable rookie year. Oh, great rookie year.
And I still think he had a tough year this year, but they had a ton of injuries around him and all that kind of stuff. Probably a lot of struggle.
Yeah, and so they have, but I like watching the young guys play because it kind of revitalizes me and vigorates me a little bit. Like bit like golly these guys are out there just playing carefree ripping it you know sometimes when you have you know a bunch of years of experience you got some scars too right i mean these guys are just letting it rip into this coverage and i'm like i remember free i remember cj threw a touchdown i think it was a pre-season game he threw like a bang eight into like into three buzz right over the safety.
And I was like, I saw him that year we played him or something or practiced against him. I was like, what are you doing ripping the skin right there? You're in the rotation for a touchdown.
He's like, hey, man, they didn't play it right. And I'm like, shit.
Just to be carefree enough to be like, you know what? Shoot it in there and score. I'm like, man, I'd have been going that way.
You know, probably been second, six. We'd have been with the four-yard completion, but my man's dropping off the field with a touchdown.
That is real. I mean, I noticed that even just for me, like you get resistant to something sometimes just because you've been burned on before.
A hundred percent. And then you'll watch somebody else do it and all of a sudden it like works out.
You're like, man, am I wrong in this? I know, I know. Like what's going on here? I mean, it sounds like yours is pretty black and white.
Yeah, but like the further you go. No, I'm with you.
The further you get in your career, you got to fight that sometimes, right? For sure. Man, like, I know how they should be playing that defense.
Yeah. And they're not playing it right, but like, I went over here and this was open even though I shouldn't be.
You know what I mean? You're like, the teams that are really ultra like undisciplined on defense don't want to give away any secrets. All right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But those are the tough ones to play sometimes, right? For to play sometimes right because you're like you know you may get a freebie and score or whatever but um a lot of times man you you're passing something because you know the coverage and and it's wide open because they blew it you know and it's tough um you know it's tough when calvin johnson's double covered because you're like man he's double but it is calvin what uh do you see anything when you're watching like a young quarterback where like oh man he's got it or like what do you i guess what what would you see out of a trait in a guy that you like to see out of a quarterback yeah i mean i think poise is a huge one right like because i think that helps um you know withstand time i think quarterbacks like so much of it is.
How often can you do it? How many years in a row can you just go out there and be that player? And there's going to be times where things around you or you are battling something or wherever, and it may not be as good, but like what kind of – what are you when times are good, when times are bad? Also in game, like, hey, it's fourth quarter. We need you.
Like what does that look like? I think that's something to me that, you know, helps, you know, predict and project what guys are going to be like down the road because that's what they're all looking for, right? They don't want, like, a guy to be really good for one year. They want him to be good for a long time.
And that's something to me that, like, you look at what Jaden Daniels is able to do. I mean, those guys, they proved it both, I think, through, like, longevity of a season, but also in-game, in big moments, being able to come up for the team is pretty cool.
I forget what, there was like 11 wins or something like that, like at the last drive. Yeah, I mean, there's something crazy.
All sorts of them, right? I mean, you had the massive Hail Mary that everybody remembers, but there were a bunch of other ones, too, that were great plays. Yeah.
I got to ask this before we get to this next segment. Yeah.
You played with two of the best D tackles in this decade plus of football and Aaron Donald and Dominic and Sue. Yeah.
Who frightened you more as a quarterback? You know, spent more, I probably played more, I don't know, it might be kind of close. I was going to say I played more games against Aaron Donald than I did Sue, but I played quite a few against Sue there kind of at the end.
I would say having, you know, experience with both ADs, it was a different deal. I agree.
Because there was like, the get off was crazy. I mean, he just wrecked practices.
Sue was that way too in a lot of instances and was a great player for us in Detroit and then, you know, bounced had some unbelievable seasons at other places too but AD was that was something different just watching him go about his job every single day. I remember like the third practice I was there in training camp we have no pads on and we're in a quick game I'm throwing a hitch to the field and I smash my thumb on his helmet and I'm like yo I just caught the ball it's like catch And I'm like, and next thing you know, everybody had the guardian caps on.
They're like, yeah. But he was crazy in his ability.
And I would say the respect that he got from offensive lines and other offenses was something I've never seen before. Yeah, I would agree with that.
I mean, we treated him differently than any other defensive tackle that we ever played. And Sue was...
I think Sue was like almost... He like wanted to kill somebody.
Where AD wanted to kill somebody too, but it was like a different level of intensity. I agree.
AD, though, his like motor. It was every single snap, every single play, you could not take a playoff.
He never took a playoff. I don't know how he had that kind of conditioning it was to this day yeah well you the combinedness of like his athleticism is like explosive and strength and he's a smart player like i mean he knew like you talk to him i get in the you know cafeteria and you sit down you talk to him and he's like yeah i knew if i wasn't doubled if the center didn't come to me it's run away yeah because the center comes to me every pass play.
Yeah. And if the center comes to me, it's pass or it's run two.
Yeah. Center goes away.
Like, you're not blocking me with two. Yeah.
So he knew it was run away, and then he's shooting a backside gap. I mean, like, he was just, like, could make decisions and go like that that quickly.
For sure. It was impressive to be around him and watch him work.
I mean, the way he worked worked out we had a uh um i'll never forget and he's crazy in the weight room oh i know like the rock came in and worked out with him one time and there's a night fighting yeah i mean he's like he's a maniac in the weight room right and uh i'll never forget this was 21 or 22 maybe yeah we had like a make-a-wish kid who had like a year before had been like hey i want to my dream is to go like be with anna dongle for a day kind of thing and thankfully this kid at that point had kind of beaten the odds and had beaten the cancer that he had i believe and like was really on the mend and it was really cool like he came in and you're like oh man this guy's like doing good right high school kid like bigger kid uh like love to play football and ad was like cool come work out with me right and i'm like i'm walking by i'm like yo what is about to go down and i look over and like i'm over there doing like banded something like 30 minutes in and ad's just ripping curls out and this and this next thing you know this kid is puking in the trash can you please like have a And I'm like, AD, can you please like have a little kuth,

a little understanding?

Like, no, you got what he wanted.

You want to be AD? You want to be AD?

It was unbelievable.

I've been on chemo for months, AD.

I'm like, God, can we just relax on the bicep curls

for a little bit?

It's like, how many do we do till we throw up?

You know what I mean?

It was just like unbelievable. I was like, this guy has no, I mean, the motor just never stops, man.
It was incredible. I remember it was my first time playing in LA against the Rams, and it was a preseason game.
And I'm number three closest to the line. We're running all go special.
It's cover two, or at least I see two high. And I'm thinking I'm just right up the hash.
And I take off, and I'm like,'m like man I'm just gonna fucking dig for my first like five to ten yards and by the time I got to the like five yards downfield I felt something throw me to the numbers and I got out out of that play like fucking like little dazed I'm like what in the fuck was that and I watched it on film and it was AD coming from the backside B gap and just fucking smoked me oh i believe there was a blitz from the other side and i was just like what the fuck i had never felt like more of like like the lightest thing yeah i had never moved that fast before ever in my life by anybody i remember we're i was in detroit we're playing a game against uh the rams and they're in st louis still at that point that point. Jim Bob was our coordinator, and I dropped back to pass late in the game.
We need to play. And Aaron, I have two hands on the ball, right, like this, and Aaron just comes up from behind me and just rips both my biceps apart.
The ball falls down the ground. And I'm looking at him, and I'm like, I come over to the sideline.
I'm like, I mean, I'm pissed. And I'm like, i don't know what i'm supposed to do there he's like you gotta find a way to hold on to it i'm

like go fuck yourself man like you think i'm gonna be able to hold on to this this monster

like this and like kindly separated my arms he's like i'll take the ball

i was just like what do i do like oh is that what i was supposed to do

hold on to it got it thanks that's how this works

i was with jim bob i'll never forget when he came up i we'll probably cut this bro gotta tell it anyway so i'm sitting there we had just hired nick sirianne and shane steichen and jim bob was on the staff i had never met jim bob oh yeah i didn't know about him in detroit really yeah he comes up and he says hey jason my is Jim Bob Cooter and I fucking laugh like audibly like a giggle and I'm like oh that's fucking real my bad on that one awesome fucking dude he's a great dude all time name all time name it caught me just so off guard like I was like what are we like in Varsity Blues right now 100% you know he's got like the name matches I think his like his childhood home backed up to the Jack Daniels distillery like as it should with a name like With a name like Jim Bob Cooter. Are you kidding me? Back up to Jack Daniels.
So yeah, he's one of a kind. Thank you to Intuit TurboTax for sponsoring today's episode.
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We got to ask. Yeah, we got to ask.
You can tell us to fuck to fuck off you don't gotta answer okay uh but yeah we uh we always wrap it up with uh with you we gotta ask but you don't have to answer oh fuck um we gotta ask is brought to you by mentos gum do you keep doing the same note no it's not you're doing the same note. No, it's not.
You're doing the same note. I'm doing a different note.
Do your note. No.
Ah. Ah.
See? Yeah, you were different that time. It sounded terrible.
That time you were different. Because I did the same note that time.
Ah. Ah.
Ah. Go high.
Ah. Ah.
That was close. That was it.
That was it. I'm done.
All right. done alright yeah no this would be easy this would be easy rapid fire too you don't even gotta think about it am I elaborating on these answers am I just one wording yeah you can listen fuck off whatever feels your weakest answer you can give yeah that's right as of 2024 the only remaining active players in the NFL from 2009 draft class are you and Jets punter Thomas Morstead.
Morstead. Morstead.
The E-A-D. It's a tough one.
Read, read, you know what I'm saying? My first grade daughter Hunter is doing those words right now. She was reading this morning.
See, see, read, read. It's a real deal, bro.
I don't know who created this fucking language. Yeah.
Do you plan to do whatever it takes to outlast Morstian? I've been waiting for him to just wither away at some point, but he just keeps going. He's a machine.
We actually played the Jets this year. It's funny you say this.
We played the Jets this year. I was unaware that Thomas was an 09 draft pick.
Did he fucking challenge you? Post game, he fucking came up to me. He was like, yo, can I get a picture? We're like the only two guys still doing it.
So, yeah, it was nice to get a picture with my guy. It'll be the last one.
Yeah, right? Don't ever ask me for a picture again. I love it.
But, no, I I mean he's got a gig that promotes longevity so we'll see I don't know if I can keep going but he probably can he can keep going forever I don't like my odds do you have a favorite throw one is tough to come up with throwing a fade to Cooper to win the pretty awesome. Yeah.
To play earlier in that drive to throw the in-breaker I had where I kind of looked him off was another good one. Those are the two that come to mind.
And then, weirdly enough, the three that hit me first were all to him. But the one in Tampa in the divisional round, when they brought the zero pressure on the two-minute drive, and he's running like a vertical push to clear out for a dagger yeah and i like caught it backside safety whenever i was like oh my god this is zero and just launched that one fade away um those three are pretty good ones because they were like high leverage high leverage moments right like there's some cool ones that you know you're getting blown out or you're winning big but those were were high leverage moments and I was able to make it happen.

All right.

I do have a submission from Andrew Whitworth recently told a story.

Big win.

Oh, great.

He said one time you threw a bomb to Van Jefferson against Arizona.

I don't know if you remember this play.

Okay.

It's got to be 21.

You said fucking dime as you threw it.

Is that real?

That was a good one.

That was a good one.

That too was a good one.

You like called like nothing but net. Yeah.
Kobe. Yeah.
That was a good one. That too was a good one.
You like called like nothing but net. Kobe.
It was a good one. Yeah, it came out of the hand good.
And I was like, oh, this is going to be sweet. And I'll never forget.
J.J. Watt was on the sideline.
He wasn't playing that game. He was hurt.
And I like threw it and kind of like spun around. And like for some reason, you know, I'm kind of cruising down and I like lock eyes like see him and I'm like oh god I'm yeah I was like also thank god you're not playing would not have been able to get that one off but would have been way harder with you in front of me but it uh yeah that was a good one um band when he got that one that was kind of like a cool like play action half boot that we had put in maybe that week or week before and uh hit it it was sweet that's awesome yeah it was a cool one who put in the uh fake spike in dallas yeah oh my that was not put in that was it no that was just you just swinging yes well i was like so we throw a seam ball to calvin in that in that uh the play before and i thought he got in everybody thought he got in riley reef was our left tackle at the moment and he's celebrating like WWE

style on the 50 like

his back is to me. I'm screaming high

pitch like a girl like get over here

and so

everybody's kind of waiting for Riley to get back

from his celebration

and so I'm standing at the line of

scrimmage and I've got time to kind of like look

there's like 12 seconds left on the clock

and the D line's just like chilling in

a stance. Sean Lee

was kind of just chilling at Mike Linebacker

we're going to go. Like, I'm not going to let him call another play.
Yeah. We had, you know, just a spike or a kill or a kill it whatever you want to call it we had that called and then i just decided to go for it myself and thank god it worked out all right that would have been a tough one yeah all-time fail had it not worked well it did yes was your return to detroit the wildest atmosphere you've ever played in um yeah i i would say so.
I think, yeah, both times really. The playoff game was crazy.
That was wild because we ran out for pregame warmups and the place was just packed and just booing the shit out of me, which is whatever. But, yeah, that was a loud, loud game.
And then we came, for the opener the next year and it was crazy loud again.

They support. When they're rolling, they support,

man. It's wild.
They're not fucking around.

No, that's... Especially Dome City too.
Oh, man. Yes, they're rocking

and rolling. That shit gets rowdy.
Yeah, both of those were

night games that had ample

time to, you know...

Yeah, yeah. Get ready to rock and

roll. So they were going.
We're going to remove

any type of barrier we have to congenialness. What the fuck did you just say? All right, I'm going to stop talking.
I know what you meant. All right.
I knew where you were going. To being nice.
Yes. There we go.
What do we got? You're a father of four girls. Yes.
As I am about to be. Yes.
You got any advice? Buckle up. No, it uh it's a blast man you know we saw each other not too long ago and was talking about it it's uh it's a blast man my seven-year-olds will soon be eight uh six and a four so we're like rocking and rolling we're in leotards all the time doing gymnastics around the house it's crazy so um i don't know man i at this point i'm like i don't even know what i would do with a boy like i don't even i can't even wrap my head around it so i'm just like i'm all in on the girls throw him that pigskin yeah i mean i could figure it out you know what i'm saying yeah i don't really know figure it out but i mean changing a diaper with a nutsack there just feels like it would be weird agreed agreed yeah like wiping shit up a? Like, I don't want to be a part of that.
I'm with you. I'm with you 100%.
Just got to shine those nuts, man. Just got to shine those things, man.
Where are we at? Baby nut sacks, I think, is where we left the hole. Yeah, I think that's where we stopped.
We're on baby nut sacks. We'll back on the nut sacks.
I don't know why that's at in the rundown. Former offensive coordinator.
No, I'm kidding. Your former offensive coordinator, Kevin O'Connell, told a story about a game before he was head coach where QB fell down a skinny staircase at Lambeau? Do you recall this? Was that QBU? No? Oh, shit.
We've narrowed down the suspects. That was the guy before me.
That was JG. Oh, no.
I was obviously not there for it but allegedly he had a monster spill down those you know those turf that's old school shit back there I guess he took a spill I don't know I wasn't there for it but that's not a fun way to start your day at Lambeau it's going to be tough enough already He's great. Do you feel you haven't gotten enough credit for the no-look passes coming,

common in the NFL?

You know, I don't care too much for credit.

I'm not going to keep a credit meter whether I'm getting enough or not.

But for me, those started when I played with Calvin

because everybody in the building knew I was trying to throw him the ball. And so I was like, all right, how do I get all these guys off my scent a little bit? You know what I mean? And so I'm trying to move backers when they're just sending all the zone coverage right there, and I'm trying to maneuver it.
So it kind of started then. Sure.
Like, all right, how do I still get this guy the ball? And so it obviously evolved into more tactical use of spreading it around a little bit, but I don't ever think about it. It just kind of happens organically.
I mean, I know, you know, Pat does them and it's not, at least for me, like I'm not talking about it. You know, you just kind of feel it and you're playing the game and sometimes you feel like you need to move somebody and you move them.
Yeah. There you go.
I'm with you. It's that easy.

Just don't look where you're throwing the ball.

It just freezes everybody for a second.

Yeah, exactly right.

Well, we got you here.

The first time we met you was out in Georgia.

Yeah.

The lake.

Yes.

Dude, what was your first impression of a guy like Jason Kelsey?

Jesus Christ.

You know, I remember, I feel like.

And shout out to the Air Force boys, man. Yeah, man, they know how to go.
It wasn't a first thing. You let those guys out and look out.
Yes. They'd be like, we've been just doing PT for the last six months.
I haven't seen anything and they walk out and it's like, chicks in bikinis in a boat. It's like, oh.
I was like, whoa. We gotta back up.
But these dudes were, they were rocking and rolling, man. They were it was those were great times simpler times they were so fun south of Lake Lanier man yeah man we gotta do another they were trying to run it back at some point I'm like golly man it would be hard now it's gonna take a lot out of me yeah you know what I mean but it was 10 years straight they did that 10 years I think I think I was there for nine of them or 10 of them.

Started on like a Mastercraft wakeboard boat and then graduated into a giant houseboat.

Full on triple-decker houseboat.

Jesus.

Before we get out of here, I got to have you read this from my former teammate and one of my favorite teammates of all time, Darius Slay.

Oh, love Slay.

He said, I guess you were known to pick on DBs occasionally.

And this is a quote from Darius after the Eagles-Rams playoff game.

It's...

Here, let me...

I got you.

Great.

That one.

I'm not that old.

I have good eyes.

Okay, you don't have to zoom in.

So sorry.

So sorry.

It was fun as hell until he started trying me the last two drives.

Like, goddamn, staff.

Like, damn.

Calm the fuck down. Like, shit.
This is so slay. This is so on-brand.
That's why. I know you've been slinging this motherfucker.
Sling that motherfucker somewhere else. Well, Darius, I'm sorry.
I just had to do something. I was trying to fight back, man.
You guys were kicking our ass. So it was, I love playing against him.
I played against him, you know, quite a few times since, you know, we've both been gone from Detroit. And he is, what a great teammate.
Oh, dude. You guys were kicking our ass.
I love playing against him. I played against him quite a few times since we've both been gone from Detroit and he is what a great teammate.
What a stud. Wish him nothing but the best.
I love getting to compete against him. He's a man.
That's it. That's We Gotta Ask and that was brought to you by Mentos Gum.
I think that's all we got, brother. I appreciate it.
No, you guys are the fucking great. I appreciate it.
92% of Matthew Stafford. Yeah, baby.
Let's go, baby. Appreciate you coming through, brother.
You got it, man. Thank you.
Best of luck this year. Appreciate it.
Thank you. I know.
All right. All right.
All right, now let's wrap this episode up with some No Dumb Questions. No Dumb Questions is brought to you by American Express.
That's right. Only doing one of these today since we had a good interview.
We're just going to pick what sounds interesting. And we are brothers.
We didn't really prank each other growing up, but that's the topic for this one. Hey guys, it's Willis from South Carolina.
Hey Willie. And I'm not a parent, but I do have two younger brothers.
I'm in college, they're in middle school. And I'm babysitting them for about a week and a half coming up in like a month.
And I want to pull some pranks on them. But I don't know what to do because I'm not a very good pranker.
But I want to get better at it because, you know, let's have some fun. I don't want to do anything too cruel.
Like, I don't want to traumatize them. But also, like, let's have some fun.
So what are your favorite pranks to pull on like a middle school age boy thank you so much all right willow let me tell you about a game called poop dollar all right here's what you're gonna want to do you're gonna want to get at all you're gonna want to get it they're middle school i feel like a dollar works still for a middle schooler right what 100 yeah take a dollar five dollar would get them excited5 would get them excited, but they still might keep the dollar. If you really want to really get them, $20 bill.
That'll for sure work. It's going to take some dirty work, though, so you want to go get some hospital gloves.
Get some gloves. Glove up for this.
Hopefully you have a pet. That's easiest case scenario.
If not, just go to the park. Or you can do it yourself.
We've never gone that far. Yeah, we haven't done that yet.
You're going to want to take a $20 bill, fold it in like a U shape. Roam your backyard for some type of dropping of excrement of some kind.
Take the U shape so that bill only, not your hand will. Bill only.
Bill only. But if you've got gloves just in case.
You smush it right in the middle of the bill now you have it in the middle of the bill fold that puppy over on top of each other set it down where the boys are going to be you know they're going to wander by they're going to pass by yep it's going to be enticing you got to be around though so you got it you got to camp out you got to hide out you have to be there while they pick it up or you're not going to be as satisfied. Yes.
And you're going to want to leave it so that they discover it, pick it up, and then find out that, lo and behold, there's poop inside of it. And you scream, poop dollar! So that'll work.
That's a good one. That's a great one for middle school boys or really boys of any age yeah um men grow men that gets them too i would say another one that we we knew about that we didn't really partake in as much um but um icy hot in the jockstrap always works so you can go icy hot in the it's kind of cruel but it takes about an hour to wear off chris pesic got me in ice hockey.
There you go. Yeah, of course I do.
So the freshmen used to have to unload the buses or something like that. And we had like a loss or something like that.
And I was trying to get the hell out of there. Didn't unload the bus.
Came back the next day. Put my jock strap on.
Went out on the ice. Not a fun day.
Yeah. Both icy and hot.
Just as it. Nothing icy about it.
It was pure it was pure hot zero ice to it yeah you can feel a little cruel and um if they don't wear jock straps i mean just the boxers work yep boxers work just as good yeah i mean i wouldn't do that that's too far to me willow but uh what are some other good ones what are some we're just not great pranksters we we didn't do lot of pranking if you have one of those like hoses that like you gotta squish on the squeeze like on the sink put a little rubber band around that so that when they turn the faucet on it just sprays them right in the face good one what are some other good pranks you can booby trap them you always booby trap them, get a balloon full of whipped cream or something like that.

They open a door, all of a sudden smacks them right in the face.

That takes some good work.

You got to be kind of handy with a tool in your hand.

Where's she from?

South Carolina?

South Carolina.

Are there alligators in South Carolina?

I'm sure they ventured up there.

I mean, if it's a pool day, get an alligator, duct tape its mouth closed, and throw it in the pool.

Yeah, well, good luck with that. They don't have strong...

They're not that strong at opening their mouth.

They're only strong at closing it, so it's...

Duct tape will hold.

You'll be good.

Yeah, that sounds terrifying, Jason.

It'll be very scary, though.

I'll wait for them to be around their friends and then just pants them. Yeah.
Yeah. Got nothing for you other than they will hate you forever.
Please, let us know what you ended up doing. We can't wait to hear how you pranked these little twin fuckers in middle school.
Yeah. So, that does it for No D Questions, brought to you by American Express.
All right, and that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you to Matthew Stafford for joining the show.
What an awesome conversation that was. So much fun.
Awesome to relink after all these years. Hell yeah.
Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the New Heights channel and follow New Heights on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
Don't you forget to hit up Wondery on the Wondery app, baby. Once again, New Heights, a Wondery show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by Nike.
When the world says you can't win, Nike says so win. Follow the show on all social media at new heights show

with one ask for fun clips throughout the weeks

and thanks to our production and crew

and thank you to the 92 percenters

as always we will see you next

week. Peace.

Do do do do do do do do.

Can we can we get a harmonization?

What are you going to start off?

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do I can't do that one. Where you at? I either gotta go real low.
Where you at? All right, so I'm up there. All right, go.
Wait, hold on. Now you're doing the whole thing? Yeah, I'm gonna try and...
Where's my ending note again? Well, now you're higher. All right, fuck this.
I can't find where you're at. You gotta go, Jason.
I have no idea where you're at. You're all over the place.
I'm not a, this is why I don't do music. Follow New Heights on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and Atwill Media, I'm Misha Brown, and this is The Big Flop.

Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time, like Quibi.

It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to, like, get other people to do it.

And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

Like, if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground,

there's something wrong with the movie.

Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco.

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